Former prison governor warns that failure to tackle inmates’ alcohol issues is
leading to reoffending

Prisons are operating a “booze-fuelled revolving door” a former governor has warned as a report concluded that the justice system is not doing enough to stop criminals turning back to drink on their release.

In a rare survey of prisoners, seven out of 10 admitted they had been drinking when they committed the crime for which they were jailed.

But only half of those who made the admission recognised their drinking as a problem and only four in 10 knew about support available to help them keep it under control on their release.

A report published by the addiction charity Addaction surveyed prisoners across England and found that although most were not able to drink during their sentence there was little recognition of the part alcohol played in their offending.

The charity’s Alcohol and Crime Commission report, which is published today, warned that the failure meant opportunities are being missed to reduce the chances of the prisoners reoffending.

Prof John Podmore, a former governor of Belmarsh, Swaleside and Brixton prisons, chairman of the commission, said “What we have is a booze-fuelled revolving door and a system that doesn’t understand the complexities of alcohol-related crime”

The report calls for alcohol treatment to become a central part of all rehabilitation programmes.

“This commission accepts that substantial resources have been committed to traditional drug treatment involving such things as heroin and cocaine,” Prof Podmore said.

“Alcohol, however, can only be described as the Cinderella service, underlined by the frequently used term ‘drugs and alcohol’.

“Alcohol treatment has not been integral to any drug strategy and services have

been largely restricted to detoxification.

“Addressing alcohol use as an underlying factor in offending has been little researched, understood or addressed.

“This is not a plea for more resources – it is an attempt to place the problems of alcohol crime and offending higher up the national and local government agenda.”

“A staggering number of prisoners committed a crime while drinking, but unless they’re alcohol dependent the system doesn’t properly recognise them as problem drinkers.

“This means that people are leaving prison without the support they need.

“Add to that the fact that aftercare is almost non-existent and we end up with a situation where we’re asking people to reintegrate into society, but without any of the right tools they need to do so.”